Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness of the symptoms of oesophageal cancer among (a) GPs and (b) the wider public.

The Be Clear on Cancer (BCOC) national oesophago-gastric campaign to raise awareness of the main symptoms of these cancers ran from 26 January to 22 February 2015. The campaign used a wide range of media, including national television and radio advertising, to promote the key messages “Having heartburn, most days, for three weeks or more could be a sign of cancer” and “Food sticking when you swallow could be a sign of cancer”.

The campaign was targeted to people over 50, the age group most at risk of developing oesophago-gastric cancers, and their friends and family to raise awareness of the symptoms of persistent heartburn and food sticking and to encourage people with either of these symptoms to visit their general practitioner (GP).

The decision on whether the BCOC oesophago-gastric campaign will be repeated in the future will be informed by a steering group, whose members include primary and secondary care clinicians, analysts and key voluntary sector organisations. A number of factors are taken into account when deciding which campaigns to run, including all available evaluation data.

The new National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline published last month on referral for suspected cancer encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and to lower the threshold at which people are given cancer tests.